Practice IELTS Listening

Practice IELTS Listening

The IELTS Listening section is 40 minutes long. 30 of those minutes is spent on the test itself and the remaining 10 minutes are for you to transfer your answers.

There are typically 4 sections on the exam.

Section 1- is a conversation between two people

Section 2- is one person explaining something

Section 3- is a conversation between 4 people

Section 4- is one person explaining an academic subject

Make sure you write down your answers as the recording is playing, as you will not hear it again.

How to Use this page: Practice IELTS Listening

If you struggle with your English listening skills you should begin to practice IELTS listening recordings and questions right away. Improving your listening skills takes time. There are a few ways that you can practice IELTS listening. In my experience these three tips help students improve the quickest.

First, you should test out your skills to see where you are. You can do this by taking the IELTS listening test on this page. Simply play the recording at regular speed for each section. How you do on that initial practice IELTS listening test should determine what you do next. If you get 90% of the questions correct ( remember spelling counts), you should then go on to practice the IELTS Listening test at a faster speed. This will train your ears to hear English even better than you already do. If you can successfully answer the IELTS listening questions at an expedited speed, then you will have no problem on the IELTS listening exam itself.

If you take the initial IELTS listening exam and you get less than 90% of the questions correct, I suggest that you do the one thing that will improve your listening skills the fastest; transcribing. When you transcribe something that means you write down what you hear. In other words play the IELTS listening sections and write down the words that you hear. You can stop and start the recording, you can even play it again. In my opinion it’s fine to play the recording up to three times. Once you write down what you hear look at the transcripts to check your work, and don’t forget to make sure that your spelling is correct. If you spell something incorrectly on the IELTS listening exam, the answer will be marked wrong.

Finally, make sure you utilize the multiple speeds that you will find on this page. There are four speeds for every section of the test. If you are a beginner and you are struggling to understand what you hear start with level one, the slowest speed. If you have already mastered the regular speed, listen to the exam at a quicker speed. Remember if you are working on improving your listening skills transcribing what you hear is the best and fastest way to improve. Answering the questions is just a way to test out your progress. Below you will find all of the tools that you need to practice IELTS listening.

Level 1- is recorded at a speed slightly slower than a regular voice. If this speed is too quick for you, then please go to the general listening section and listen to recordings at its slowest speed.

Level 2- is recorded at the speed of a regular speaking voice

Level 3- is recorded slightly faster than a regular speaking voice

Level 4- is recorded at a very fast speed and this level is best for those students who are focusing on improving their listening skills.

Practice IETLS Listening Exams recordings– The exam typically has four sections. Each recording contains one section. Listen to the recording and answer the questions as if you were taking the exam. If you’re struggling a little to answer the questions try a lower speed. Once you have mastered one speed move on to a faster speed. If you can answer the questions correctly at level 4 you should have no problem with the IELTS exam.

Prsctice IELTS Listening Practice Test 2 Questions

IETLS Listening Test 3 Questions

IELTS Listening Practice Test 4 Questions

Practice IELTS Listening Exam Transcripts- There are two ways to use this section. First and foremost dictation is the best way to improve your listening skills. The exam has been recorded in 4 speeds. Chose your speed and write down what you hear, then check your work with the transcript. You can start and stop the recording as often as you need to and you can repeat them up to 3 times.

Additionally, words have been removed from the transcript and you can “fill in the blank” this gives you an extra opportunity to practice your listening skills.

Transcripts

As always dictation is the best way to improve your listening skills. The exam has been recorded in 4 speeds. Chose your speed and write down what you hear. This section contains the transcripts from test 1. Some words have been removed from the transcripts.